The Enemy Within
by Blackford
Summary: Aladdin and his friends face a unique threat from within and from without, and they must stick together if they hope to triumph.
1. Chapter 1

**The Enemy Within**

 _Characters (c) are owned by Walt Disney Corp._

In the Land of the Black Sand, the overarching darkness of the black night sky seemed to glower above the ebony ground with a rancid enmity, projecting wrath and anger upon everything on the earth below it. It was no accident that the atmosphere of this infamously gloomy, darksome land was even more foreboding than usual. For at this moment, the evil sorcerer who ruled the region was conducting a nefarious magical spell so outstanding in its audacity that the heavens above seemed to react with menacing disapproval.

Within the stone citadel located at the top of a gray cliff in the middle of the ominous area, the young sorcerer Mozenrath stood over a large cauldron which was brimming with strange multicolored fluids and mists. The wizard, bedecked in his customary blue and black clothing, watched as the mysterious mists swirled and writhed near the brim of the cauldron and created flashes of incandescent light.

Mozenrath was still seething over his previous defeats at the hands of Aladdin, the hero of Agrabah, and his band of companions. Time after time, the sorcerer's attempts to become master of all the kingdoms of the Seven Deserts had come to naught, and the supreme power he craved remained beyond his grasp.

But now things would be different. Mozenrath was sure he had found the perfect way to vanquish Aladdin and conquer the Seven Deserts. He knew that he needed new magical assistance from some great otherworldly power, and now he had found it. One of his books of magic spells had revealed to him an enchantment that would allow him to harness the power of the world beyond the grave. Using the evil spirits inhabiting the mystical realms of the long dead, he could finally acquire enough power to fuel his long-delayed campaign of conquest.

And so he had gone about preparing the magic spell, and now it was nearly complete. The cauldron now bubbled with the magical energies needed to unlock the mystical doors to the world of the dead, and to summon the souls of the dead to do his bidding. Moments from now, Mozenrath's spell would grant him an army of deathly spirits to command.

A small creature – an airborne brown eel that could float and hover through the air – flew over to Mozenrath's side as he looked over the luminescent cauldron.

"You see, Xerxes?" Mozenrath said to the eel. "Soon this latest spell will grant me the power of the realm of the dead, and I will finally be able to conquer the Seven Deserts."

"Yes, yes," the eel hissed in reply.

Mozenrath raised his magical gauntlet – which covered one hand that had been eaten away to the bone by the corrupting power of the leather glove – and cast a blue beam of mystical energy from the gauntlet into the cauldron. In response, the cauldron churned and rumbled.

"Yes! It's working!" shouted Mozenrath. "I knew this magic spell would work. Now I will possess unearthly power from the world of the dead, and I will command an army of spirits that will bring me victory over all the kingdoms! Not even Aladdin can stop me this time!"

As Mozenrath was still speaking, the cauldron suddenly began to shake violently, and a burst of brilliant light exploded from its interior. Shocked, Mozenrath stepped back, and his eyes widened at the unexpected display.

"What's happening?!" he said.

The cauldron burst forth with another explosion of light, and the floor of the room quaked and trembled from the force of the blast. Mozenrath and Xerxes shielded their eyes from the blinding light as they backed away from the tempestuous cauldron.

* * *

As the blast of light gradually faded away, Mozenrath tried to see what had happened. Peering through the cloud of dust and smoke that had arisen from the explosion, he could see some sort of shimmering mass taking shape.

"What's going on?" he said aloud, more to himself than to Xerxes. "Where are those spirits of the dead the spell promised me? I need their power!"

The dust and smoke gradually cleared away, and Mozenrath and Xerxes drew closer to the strange mass of bright light that had appeared near the cauldron. Upon closer examination, the mass of light resembled a doorway of some kind, and a shadow far inside of it was coming closer to the threshold, seemingly intent on exiting through the doorway.

"Something's coming!" Mozenrath said. "Something's emerging from another world!"

The shadow drew closer and closer to the threshold. Its full form could not be seen clearly at first because the shimmering light around the doorway was too blinding. But gradually, the shape of the shadowy figure began to reveal itself as it approached the interdimensional threshold separating one world from another. The figure soon reached the threshold and began to come into full view as it passed through the waves of glittering light.

The figure that exited the doorway was a gray-skinned, decrepit-looking humanoid creature clad in purple robes. It wore a dull gold-colored Egyptian-style flat-topped crown on its head, and it walked with a notably hunched posture. The bizarre visitor had a freakish, frightful face exhibiting a jagged mouth with oversized teeth; a small, dark beard protruding from the chin; and a pair of crazed, deathly eyes. The overall appearance of the stranger suggested a fearsome, insidious nature.

Mozenrath and Xerxes stared across the room as the gray-skinned stranger emerged from the light and stepped into the room.

"Ha ha ha!" the stranger cackled in a grating, raspy voice. "At last! Ayam Aghoul is free once more! Free to once again plague the living world!"

The stranger examined his surroundings as Mozenrath looked on with surprise, not quite sure of what to do next. Eyeing the intruder suspiciously, he decided to find out more about this visitor before doing anything.

"This is my citadel, stranger," Mozenrath declared. "I demand that you tell me your reason for being here."

"Ah, a citadel, is it?" the gray-skinned stranger drawled, his frenzied eyes darting about the room. "Very interesting. So you must be the magic-maker who conjured that spell which released me from my prison. This is certainly a fortunate day for Ayam Aghoul."

Now Mozenrath suddenly recognized the name uttered by the stranger. It was a name he had come across before in one of his magic books.

"Ayam Aghoul!" he said. "I've heard of you. You are the undead sorcerer who often tormented humans, but who became trapped in the Netherworld, the realm of the dead."

"The same," Aghoul said with a grin. "And there's nothing like having a helpless living world at my mercy to cheer me up after being locked away in that cursed Netherworld."

"I was expecting to summon spirits from the realm of the dead to do my will," Mozenrath said, the frustration in his voice growing more readily apparent. "The magic spell was supposed to give me the power of the Netherworld!"

"Well, life is full of surprises," Aghoul said. "And so is un-life." He laughed at his own joke with a rather sloppy, slavering guffaw.

"Now that you're free, what do you plan to do?" Mozenrath queried.

"Well, a little kidnapping, tormenting, and conquering here and there will suit me just fine," Aghoul said. "But my first order of business is especially important: I'm going to get revenge on the one who constantly imprisoned me in the Netherworld whenever I tried to escape! A miserable, infuriating peasant boy called Aladdin!"

Mozenrath raised his eyebrows. "Aladdin!" he said. "You're seeking revenge on Aladdin?!"

"Yes I am," snarled the undead wizard. "And when I get Aladdin, he is going to pay a thousand times for trapping me in the Netherworld!"

Mozenrath frowned for a moment, then pulled himself together and continued the conversation in a more equable manner.

"Listen, Aghoul, you're not the only one who wants to destroy Aladdin," he said. "He has interfered with my plans countless times, and I've never been able to stop him on my own. But together, we could finally defeat him!"

"Nice try, wizard boy," Aghoul rasped. "But I know your kind too well. You would betray me at your first opportunity. Besides, I share my power with no one!"

Mozenrath cursed under his breath. That was _exactly_ what he had been planning to do! He had intended to use Aghoul for his own purposes, and then betray him and get rid of him for good as soon as his usefulness had ended. But now that was no longer an option.

"This is unacceptable!" he suddenly shouted. "Aladdin is _mine_ to kill! Mine! No one else is allowed to do it! And no one is allowed to conquer the Seven Deserts except me! The kingdoms of the Seven Deserts are mine alone!"

"Don't you dare give orders to me, human!" Aghoul growled. "I'll make you regret taking that tone of voice with me!"

Aghoul lunged forward with a burst of power emanating from his hands, firing a purple blast of lightning at Mozenrath. The lightning blast took Mozenrath by surprise and knocked him backward across the floor. Mozenrath staggered and stumbled, trying to shake off the impact of the powerful force blast before spinning around back toward Aghoul.

"How _dare_ you attack me?!" he sputtered in rage. "How _dare_ you strike the ruler of the Land of the Black Sand in his own home!"

"The Land of the Black Sand, eh?" Aghoul said curiously. "So this is the land you have claimed as your personal kingdom?"

"Of course it is!" Mozenrath replied. "I am Mozenrath, the greatest sorcerer of our age!"

"I wouldn't award yourself titles of greatness just yet, wizard boy," Aghoul hissed. "You failed to reckon with the true power of the undead. The otherworldly magic of the deathly realm flows through me, as you are about to learn firsthand!"

Aghoul advanced menacingly upon Mozenrath. Mozenrath, in turn, started to threateningly circle around Aghoul, trying to find some kind of weakness in the undead scoundrel that he could exploit.

"You arrogant freak!" he barked at Aghoul. "I'll kill you for this insolence!"

"There's no chance of that, my friend," Aghoul grinned broadly. "I'm already dead, remember?"

Mozenrath furiously unleashed a glowing blue beam of power from his magic gauntlet, directing it at his undead foe. Aghoul, in turn, drew a dry skeleton's leg bone from his cloak and brandished it through the air, using the bone to deflect the energy blast. Then Aghoul fired an energy blast of his own from one hand, sending a purple ray hurtling toward Mozenrath. The young wizard used a magical blue force shield to protect himself from the attack.

Now the two evil sorcerers used their energy-projection capabilities to engage in a fearsome magical duel, trading blast for blast as both combatants tried to gain the upper hand with increasingly powerful bolts of power. Blue and purple energy rays flashed across the prodigious room, clashing against each other and bouncing off the marble walls and floor. The two wizards clenched their teeth as they struggled to force the other off balance.

At last, Aghoul launched a spinning disk of magical purple energy in Mozenrath's direction, which completely knocked Mozenrath off his feet and sent him reeling to the floor. Mozenrath started to get up, but another of Aghoul's energy blasts caught him in the chest and pinned him to the ground.

"Well, Mozenrath, it seems that you didn't fully prepare yourself for the coming of the undead," Aghoul observed. "Such a shame. I'm afraid I'll have to banish you from this realm as a lesson about underestimating my powers."

"No! You can't!" Mozenrath protested. "The Land of the Black Sand is mine!"

"Not for long," Aghoul sneered. "As of now, this black country is now the property of Ayam Aghoul! And soon it shall be the perfect base of operations from which I will rain devastation upon all the kingdoms in the Seven Deserts!"

Aghoul used his magic to levitate the now-paralyzed Mozenrath off the floor and into the air leaving him hovering above the ground while surrounded by a glistening purple aura.

"I can't thank you enough for freeing me so that I can take control of the living world," Aghoul said with a slimy leer. "And soon I'll have my long-awaited revenge on that rotten Aladdin and his pesky friends! Unfortunately, this means I have no more use for you. So then, farewell!"

And with a wave of both hands, Aghoul sent Mozenrath flying out one of the windows of the citadel. Mozenrath went hurtling through the air outside, propelled onward by the inexorable force of Aghoul's power. The force carried Mozenrath many miles away from his citadel to the very edges of the Land of the Black Sand. Finally, the force released him, dropping him down to the ground into a mass of ebony sand.

* * *

Back in the citadel, Aghoul began to survey his newly acquired property, examining the various magical books, elixirs, and artifacts which comprised Mozenrath's ample collection.

"Ha ha, it's all mine!" Aghoul declared. "Now I am the new ruler of the Land of the Black Sand! And this is my first step towards conquest and revenge!"

The undead wizard paced about the citadel and considered his next move. "It was very nice of Mozenrath to leave me with so many wonderful playthings," he mused as he looked over the numerous magical items. "I think I'll make good use out of them when I start to bring the living world to its knees!"

Aghoul headed for one of the research study rooms to start collecting some of the mystical resources of Mozenrath's trove. "With these resources combined with my own, nothing can prevent me from working my will all across the Seven Deserts," he said to himself. "And when I finally find Aladdin, he will take my place as a prisoner of the Netherworld!"

* * *

Miles away from the citadel, on the shadowy outskirts of the Land of the Black Sand, Mozenrath picked himself up off the ground and grimaced. He glanced up and down the dark foothills of the black country and pondered what he must do, clenching his teeth in frustration over the fact that he had been ousted from his own domain.

While he was still looking around, Xerxes suddenly joined him. The floating eel looked half-harried and half-grumpy from the ordeal and glanced quizzically at his master.

"We've had a serious setback, Xerxes," Mozenrath said. "Ayam Aghoul took us by surprise. Now I have to get my kingdom back."

Mozenrath thought for a moment. "We're going to need more assistance than usual," he went on. "Because I was not familiar enough with Aghoul's powers, I was vulnerable. So I am going to need assistance from someone who is very familiar with Aghoul and his magic."

The young wizard turned and looked to the horizon beyond the Land of the Black Sand. "We must go to Agrabah, Xerxes," he said. "As much as I hate to admit it, we must go to Aladdin for help."


	2. Chapter 2

_Characters © are owned by Walt Disney Corp._

At the palace of Agrabah, Princess Jasmine and her fiancé, Aladdin, were looking after the kingdom while Jasmine's father, the Sultan of Agrabah, was paying a social visit to a fellow ruler of a neighboring city. Jasmine and Aladdin were going about their usual daily routine, and also were planning to enjoy some leisure time that afternoon.

"I think we've taken care of everything," Jasmine commented to her fiancé as the two of them walked into the palace throne room. "The palace is running smoothly, and everything in Agrabah seems normal. All in all, the day is starting off well."

Aladdin nodded. "Yeah, we'll keep things in order until your father gets back from his visit," he said. "And since everything is looking good so far, it looks like we'll have some free time this afternoon."

Jasmine smiled brightly at this. "Can't complain about that," she said. "What did you have in mind?"

"Something different," Aladdin said. "It's always nice to fly over the city or visit the marketplace, but we've done those things before. This time, I thought we could visit the Magical Oasis out in the desert. It would be a great place for a stroll."

"Ooh, sounds intriguing," Jasmine beamed. "But isn't a trip to the Magical Oasis a little much for just an afternoon outing?"

"No way," Aladdin assured her. "Carpet will get us there and back again in no time, and we'll have plenty of time to enjoy the scenery before we have to leave."

"Sounds fabulous," Jasmine said. "I hear that the Magical Oasis has an enchantment that allows plants to grow there all the time."

"That's right," said Aladdin. "According to what I've heard, the oasis is endowed with some kind of magic that contains the essence of life. That's why plant life can grow and thrive there no matter how hot or desolate the desert is."

"I'm sure it's beautiful," Jasmine smiled as she took Aladdin's hands in hers. "Let's go there."

Aladdin grinned blissfully as he felt the smooth, soft touch of Jasmine's sleek, pretty hands fondling the palms of his own hands. Jasmine's elegant fingers were stroking Aladdin's hands delicately, and Aladdin savored the feeling of it, returning the favor by stroking Jasmine's hands at the same time.

Jasmine noticed Aladdin's apparent enjoyment and giggled impishly. "You look very happy, Aladdin," she whispered in his ear.

"You're right," he acknowledged as she continued to brush her fingers across his palms.

"Keep smiling," Jasmine grinned. "I like it when you smile."

"I really couldn't do anything else," Aladdin happily replied. "I love everything about you, Jasmine."

The two of them kept playing with each other's hands for a few more moments before leaning in close to each other and bringing their lips together. They kissed long and deeply as they wrapped their arms around each other in a sheltering embrace.

When they had released each other, Aladdin and Jasmine were ready to begin their afternoon outing.

"I'll get Carpet," Aladdin said. "And we can get Genie to look after things around here while we're out."

As if Aladdin had just said some magic words, who should suddenly appear at that very moment but Genie himself. The big blue jinn popped out of thin air in a puff of smoke right in front of Aladdin and Jasmine just as they started walking out of the throne room toward the courtyard.

"Al! Al!" Genie was shouting. "Oh there you are, Al. I've been looking for you!"

"Hey Genie," Aladdin smiled. "We were just looking for you. Jasmine and I were going to go out on a quick date."

"No time for that now, Al!" Genie proclaimed. "We've got a crisis to address! Abu and Iago are having another mud pie war! Every time they do this, I can't convince them to stop! If we don't do something fast, they'll mess up the whole garden!"

Aladdin rolled his eyes. "Oh great," he said. "I told Abu and Iago to stop throwing mud pies around! This is getting ridiculous!"

"Those two are always misbehaving," Jasmine said with an annoyed look on her face. "We can't even leave them alone for two seconds! Come on, let's put a stop to this."

Jasmine and Aladdin headed out to the courtyard garden, with Genie floating close behind.

* * *

In the courtyard, a large, sweeping fusillade of mud was flying through the air back and forth across the garden paths. Wads of mud were flying in all directions and splattering all over the bushes, walls, and flower beds. In the thick of this hubbub were Abu the Monkey and Iago the Parrot, furiously engaging in their tumultuous mud pie fight.

"I'm gonna get ya, monkey!" Iago yelled as he gathered more mud to throw. "I've got a score to settle with you, and I'm settling it with our latest mud pie war!"

Abu chattered angrily and threw a big ball of mud at the parrot. The mud ball splattered in Iago's face and knocked him into a mud puddle, causing Abu to laugh riotously.

"Why you sneaky little fleabag!" growled Iago as he picked himself out of the mud. "Take this!"

He started throwing wads of mud at Abu, and Abu ducked behind a flower bed for cover. The mud wads ended up hitting several floral groupings in the flower bed.

"It's no use hiding, monkey!" Iago shouted. "I'm coming after you! You're really gonna get yours!" Iago furiously rushed behind the flower bed and hurled two mud pies which hit Abu, splattering all over the monkey and knocking him into a few flower pots.

"Ha! I told you that you had that coming!" Iago said. In response, Abu angrily chattered in very loud, high-pitched tones, and grabbed another pile of mud to hurl at Iago.

The two animals were still throwing gobs of mud at each other all across the garden grounds when Aladdin and Jasmine arrived. Jasmine and Aladdin gasped in dismay when they saw what a mess had been made in the garden area.

"Abu! Iago! Cut it out!" Aladdin shouted. "I told you two to stop throwing mud pies in the palace gardens!"

Abu and Iago were both preparing to hurl large mounds of mud at each other just as Aladdin started to intervene. As Aladdin ran over to stop them, the monkey and the parrot both threw a mud pie at each other. But instead of hitting each other, the mud pies hit Aladdin just as he ran in between them. Mud splattered all over Aladdin, and when the commotion had ceased, Aladdin stood there covered in mud with an angry scowl on his face.

"Aladdin! Are you okay?" Jasmine called out from a few feet away.

Aladdin was looking royally ticked off as he stood there drenched in mud and gunk while Iago and Abu looked very sheepish. The parrot and monkey shrank back a bit with guilty expressions on their faces.

"I'm fine, Jasmine," Aladdin grumbled. "I'm just very, very messy."

Just then, Genie emerged from the palace and floated through the air down into the courtyard garden.

"Sorry I'm late, guys," he said. "I would've got here sooner, but I had a casserole heating up in the microwave inside my lamp, and the timer went off, so I had to take it out of the oven."

Then Genie looked at Aladdin and saw that he was covered in mud.

"Al! Why were you playing in the mud?" Genie exclaimed. "I thought you were going to stop the mud pie fight, not join in!"

"Genie, will you be quiet?!" Aladdin said in an exasperated tone of voice. "I didn't join in any mud pie fight! Abu and Iago did this to me!"

"Oh right, I should have known," Genie conceded. "My bad."

Then Jasmine marched over to Iago and Abu, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at the two animals.

"Well, you two, it looks like you have a lot of cleaning up to do," she said as Iago and Abu stood there looking foolish. "And I think you'll have to be punished for being so flagrantly disobedient."

"Oh no!" Iago wailed as he turned to Aladdin. "Al, are you really gonna punish us?!"

"You bet I am, Iago!" Aladdin snapped. "You and Abu caused a lot of unnecessary trouble for the palace with your childishness."

"Please don't banish us from the palace, Al!" shouted Iago. Abu chattered vigorously to indicate that he too did not want to be thrown out of the royal residence.

"I'm not going to throw you out of the palace," Aladdin said. "But you two are going to have to clean up this whole mess you've made here in the garden area. And in addition, neither of you will get any dessert for a whole week!"

"Oh great!" Iago groused. "Now I'll miss out on getting my favorite chocolate cake! And the monkey will miss out on getting his favorite banana cream pie!"

"Sorry, but the two of you should have thought of that before you disobeyed the rules and messed up the garden," Aladdin said firmly. "No dessert for you two for a week. And you'd better get started on cleaning up this garden, because now I have to go take a shower!"

Iago and Abu both sighed, knowing there was no getting out of their punishment. Shrugging their shoulders, they set to work on cleaning up all the thrown-around mud as well as setting up all of the fallen flower pots. As they began their work, Aladdin started to march off to the palace to get cleaned up.

"Aladdin, do you need any help?" Jasmine inquired.

"Oh no, I'm fine, Jasmine. Thanks," Aladdin replied. "I'll be in the shower. Just stay here with Genie and keep an eye on Abu and Iago. Make sure they clean up everything."

"Believe me, I certainly will," Jasmine nodded.

So Aladdin headed into the palace for a nice, long shower while Abu and Iago cleaned up the garden under the supervision of Jasmine and Genie. After several hours, the gang would assemble together once again in the palace throne room.

* * *

"Boy, I feel so much better after taking that shower!" Aladdin said as he and his friends met up together in the throne room. "I hope certain people have learned a little lesson from all this." He glared at Iago and Abu as he was speaking while the parrot and monkey stood around looking embarrassed.

"We've got it, Al, we've got it!" Iago insisted. "I'm not stubborn. When I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and I'm big enough to admit it!"

"Yeah yeah yeah yeah!" Abu said in agreement.

"Good, just don't forget that," Aladdin told them. "And from now on, let's all focus on keeping the palace and the city in good working order while the Sultan is away on his trip."

"I couldn't have said better myself," Jasmine chimed in. "We need to keep Agrabah healthy and safe until Father gets back. I want him to come home to a well-run, happy city."

"No problem, Jas!" Genie declared. "Me and rug man will be on duty whenever you need a hand! Ain't that right, rug man?"

In response, Carpet did a few excited somersaults in mid-air as he floated nearby Genie.

"That's the spirit, buddy!" Genie said to Carpet as he high-fived Carpet on one of his tassels. "Just say the word, and we'll be at your service."

"Thanks, Genie," Aladdin said. "For now, let's make sure we keep the kingdom safe."

But as Aladdin was still speaking, there came a strange rumbling sound in the air. As Aladdin and his friends looked around, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from, a flash of blue light swept into the palace throne room. The blue light spun and crackled as it landed on the floor several feet away from the gang, and it gradually materialized into the shape of their old enemy, Mozenrath, the evil sorcerer from the Land of the Black Sand.

The whole gang gasped in horror, and both Abu and Iago shrank back in fear.

"Mozenrath!" Aladdin gasped. "What are you doing here?!"

"You're _never_ welcome in my Father's house, you snake!" Jasmine added fervently, her eyes gleaming with anger.

Somewhat surprisingly, Mozenrath said nothing in response, but merely scowled and put himself into a defensive crouch, while his pet flying eel, Xerxes, floated nervously in the air nearby.

"Take him down, guys!" Aladdin shouted as he rushed at Mozenrath. All of his friends followed close behind.

Genie took the lead in the attack, hurling several magical bolts of lightning at the young sorcerer in an attempt to topple him right from the get-go. Mozenrath responded by teleporting himself away from the lightning bolts as Genie threw them at him. One by one, Genie's magic blasts struck the marble floor, while Mozenrath disappeared into thin air to avoid the blasts and then reappeared in another spot on the throne room floor.

"I'm gonna make you wish you'd stayed home, wizard boy!" Genie declared as he kept firing at Mozenrath. He even transformed himself into a science-fiction space warrior and started shooting at Mozenrath with a laser gun.

While Mozenrath was evading Genie's energy bursts, Aladdin and Jasmine had moved to the side of where the sorcerer was teleporting, just a few feet away from the whole scuffle between him and Genie. Aladdin and Jasmine were hoping to surround Mozenrath and cut off his escape while he was preoccupied with Genie.

At the same time, however, Aladdin was puzzled. So far, Mozenrath was reacting in purely defensive ways. Usually, the evil young wizard was far more aggressive, and he normally employed far more powerful attacks. What was he up to? Why had Mozenrath come all this way to Agrabah and infiltrated the palace just to dodge Genie's magic bolts? Aladdin was sure that something fishy was going on.

"Jasmine!" he said in a loud whisper. "Let's try and stop Mozenrath from behind the next time he teleports!"

"Don't worry, Aladdin, I've got this," Jasmine confidently assured him. "If he appears near where I am, I'll be ready!"

Aladdin soon saw that Jasmine was true to her word. In a brief instant, Mozenrath evaded another of Genie's attacks by vanishing in one spot and reappearing in another spot – just in front of where Jasmine was waiting. Wasting no time, the princess bent her legs and leaped forward with all her strength, managing to kick Mozenrath in the back from behind with her right foot as she landed. Mozenrath fell forward from the sudden impact, landing face first on the floor.

Iago flew onto Jasmine's shoulder. "Oh yeah! That's showing him, princess!" he shouted. "Kick him again! Harder! Don't let him recover!"

"Oh I will, Iago, trust me," Jasmine said with a militant edge to her voice. "I'm not going to let him hurt anyone!"

Mozenrath was starting to pick himself up off the ground when Jasmine rushed him. The wizard raised his magic gauntlet to blast her, but he was too late. Jasmine kicked his arm to one side, causing the gauntlet to misfire, and the magic blast hit a nearby wall instead.

Before Mozenrath could try again, Genie blasted him with a lightning bolt, knocking him to the ground. Then Carpet swooped in and wrapped himself tightly around Mozenrath's body, completely entrapping him.

"Nice work, rug man!" Genie said. "Our security system seems to have passed its first big test!"

Jasmine and Iago were both grinning smugly together as they eyed the evil wizard struggling angrily and futilely in Carpet's grasp.

Iago, still perched on Jasmine's shoulder, whispered in her ear, "He doesn't look so tough now, does he, Jas?"

"No, absolutely not," Jasmine smirked as she tickled Iago's feathery stomach. "And I won't let him harm you or any of our friends."

Meanwhile, Aladdin had stepped up to confront the captured sorcerer. Abu was hanging onto his shoulders as he walked over to join the rest of the gang.

"Good work, you guys," he told his friends. "But I think Mozenrath's hiding something. This battle was too easy. He didn't put up as much of a fight as he usually does."

Aladdin stood in front of Mozenrath and glared at him straight in the eye. "So what's your game this time, Mozenrath?" he demanded. "Why did you hold back so much when you were fighting us? And why are you here at all?"

"Believe it or not, Aladdin, I didn't come here to fight you and your pathetic friends," Mozenrath sneered. "I had an entirely different reason for being here, but I had to defend myself when you attacked me."

"So why'd you come here? Did you want afternoon tea?" Aladdin asked sarcastically. "Oh, let me guess, you decided to give up trying to conquer Agrabah and you wanted to sign a peace treaty."

"Hardly," Mozenrath scoffed with a scornful laugh. "I'll never stop planning to take over Agrabah. It's my rightful conquest. But for now, that doesn't matter, because I have some bigger problems on my hands."

"Then what are you doing here?" Aladdin growled, growing increasingly impatient with Mozenrath's monologues. "We don't want to deal with any of your personal problems."

"As much as I despise to admit it, I'm afraid I need help from you and your friends in order to solve my current situation," Mozenrath said. "And trust me, you'll want to help me out, because my problem is also a problem for you and all of Agrabah."

"Then stop wasting our time and spit it out already," Aladdin snapped. "What's this common problem we both have?"

"My kingdom, the Land of the Black Sand, has been taken over by an old enemy of yours," Mozenrath said. "A certain undead foe. I believe his name is Ayam Aghoul."

A horrified gasp came from Aladdin and all of his friends. That was a name that none of them wanted to hear. Ayam Aghoul, the vicious undead sorcerer from the mystical land of the dead known as the Netherworld, was one of Aladdin's most cunning, most violent, and most ruthless enemies. Ever since Aghoul had accidentally been freed from the Netherworld and attempted to force Jasmine to become his bride for all eternity, there had existed a bitter enmity between Aghoul and Aladdin and his friends. The gang had managed to trap Aghoul in the Netherworld once again, provoking his insatiable hunger for vengeance against them all, especially Aladdin himself.

Aghoul had escaped the Netherworld several times in the past, each time concocting ever more deadly schemes to exact revenge on Aladdin, and also to conquer Agrabah and the rest of the kingdoms of the Seven Deserts. The undead sorcerer loved nothing more than to make people suffer and to capture their spirits to banish into the Netherworld while he himself remained free. Fortunately, Aladdin and the gang had always succeeded in thwarting Aghoul's evil plans and sending him back to his Netherworld prison.

But now it seemed that Aghoul had returned once again.

After getting over her initial shock, Jasmine's facial expression changed from horror to rage. She marched over to Mozenrath, who was still trapped in Carpet's clutches, and slapped him across the face. Mozenrath snarled at her in response.

"You maniac!" Jasmine shouted. "You set Ayam Aghoul free, didn't you? Don't you know that he's a threat to all the kingdoms? He could cause unspeakable destruction and death all across the Seven Deserts! Now my people are in danger, and it's your fault!"

"Then perhaps you'll be eager to put aside your anger and work with me, princess," Mozenrath said. "I want to get my kingdom back, and you want to save your precious people of Agrabah. Sounds like we have a common interest."

"Yeah right," Jasmine snorted. "You just want to stop Aghoul because you want to stop him from conquering the world before you can conquer it yourself."

"True, maybe that's my reason," Mozenrath replied. "But either way, darling, we still have a common goal."

"Don't call me 'darling,' slimeball," Jasmine sniffed as she glared at him along with Iago, who was still perched on her shoulder.

Aladdin was visibly worried. "If Aghoul is free _and_ he has control of the Land of the Black Sand, then we're all in serious trouble," he said. "So tell me, Mozenrath, how did Aghoul escape the Netherworld?"

Mozenrath hesitated for a moment, as if he were reluctant to speak. Finally, however, he answered Aladdin's query: "I was performing a magic spell to harness the power of the Netherworld so I could use it to conquer the world. But instead, I accidentally released Aghoul, and he drove me out of my kingdom."

Upon hearing this, Iago suddenly displayed a mischievous smirk on his face. "Well, well, well," he said in a snide voice. "It looks like the big, bad Mozenrath is losing his touch. Aghoul took over your kingdom and you couldn't stop him, could ya?"

"Well…I was unprepared for Aghoul's attack," Mozenrath said grudgingly. "I didn't expect to be dealing with him, so he took me by surprise."

"So you got beaten by Aghoul, and now you just got your butt kicked by the Princess of Agrabah," Iago taunted. "Boy, Mozey, you sure are getting a major whupping today."

Jasmine couldn't help but smile slyly as Iago made his disparaging comments at Mozenrath's expense.

"Don't try my patience, bird," Mozenrath snarled, but all he got in response were smug smiles from Jasmine and Iago.

"Shut up, Mozenrath," Aladdin said. "Why should we trust you to help us fight Aghoul?"

"You really don't have a choice," Mozenrath said. "You need my help. I'm the one who knows the Land of the Black Sand best, and I can use my magic to assist us in our battle. How can you possibly refuse?"

Genie folded his arms, looking cross. "You never should have tampered with magic you couldn't understand, Mozey," he said. "Believe me, as a genie, I know about these things. And I also know that teaming up with you is a recipe for disaster."

"Then are you telling me that you're willing to abandon Agrabah's citizens to be killed or enslaved by Aghoul?" Mozenrath inquired.

"Save it, Mozenrath," Aladdin said. "I need to have a talk with my friends in private. Carpet's going to let you go, so you just stay put while we talk this over in the next room."

Mozenrath nodded, and Carpet released him. Then Aladdin, Jasmine, Carpet, Genie, Iago, and Abu headed to a nearby room to discuss their newest predicament.


End file.
